Discontinuously coated textiles are known in the art. It may be advantageous to coat a textile with a discontinuous polymer layer in order to provide surface texture, abrasion resistance, aesthetic interest, or as an intermediate step in creating a laminated article. For example, discontinuous epoxy coatings are applied to textiles to provide abrasion resistance. Although advantages exist for discontinuously coating textiles, there are several shortcomings. As one example, it is difficult to increase the amount of surface texture without significantly increasing the coating thickness. As a result, if a large amount of surface texture is desired, a thick coating would need to be applied which would negatively impact both weight and flexibility of the article. Additionally, existing discontinuous coatings do not substantially improve the thermally insulative qualities of the article beyond the extent to which the coatings themselves are thermally insulative. Thus, assuming that a particular coating consists of some insulative material, increased thermal resistance can only be achieved by increasing the coating thickness, which also detrimentally increases the weight and decreases the flexibility of the article. Another example is that existing discontinuous coatings act to increase the stretch force of the coated textile. Thus, if a discontinuously coated textile is desired, an increase in the force required to stretch the textile will result.
There exists a need in the art for a coated article that provides novel aesthetic characteristics, as well as enhanced surface texturization and increased thermal insulative properties, while maintaining both low weight, flexibility, and ease of stretch.